A recent $50K commitment from Gene and Elaine Glasser will mean meatier barbecues in the future. (File photo)

When Gene K. Glasser (JD 72) looks back on law school, more than statute books come to mind.

“Anytime someone said ‘JMBA barbecue pit, law school, 1 p.m.,’ we all knew exactly what you were talking about,” he said.

The law school community may look forward to the barbecue with even more anticipation now that Glasser and his wife Elaine have significantly increased their endowment with an additional $50,000 commitment to make the event “bigger and better,” as Senior Development Director Kelley Frohlich said.

He set up the endowment as a way to promote the sense of community at the law school, and to commemorate the special relationships and experiences that he credits to UF Law.

“The endowment is not something that most would call ‘conventional,'” said Glasser, a member of the UF Law Center Association board of trustees. “But there are needs that are important that just cannot be budgeted.”

Each fall, the Glasser Barbecue is one of the most popularly anticipated events at UF Law, providing an opportunity for students, faculty, staff and administration to take a short break while enjoying some good food and company.

The goal is to allow Student Affairs to serve more people and be able to host events like the barbecue more than once a year. The larger endowment may also qualify for state matching funds.

“The purpose of the additional endowment is the same as it has always been — to help fund activities that create a sense of community at the law school,” Frohlich said. “We’ve generally held the barbecue in the fall, and a smaller event, such as an ice cream social in the spring. By providing the additional funds, the Glassers hope to enhance what the fund already supports.”

Frohlich, who has been working with the Glassers on the endowment since it began in 2005, said that it’s unique to have a donor interested in contributing to the law school in this way.

“The barbecue is one of the only social events the law school offers on a regular basis that brings the entire law school community together at the same time and the same place,” she said.

Anitra Raiford (2L) attended the barbecue last year.

“It sponsors a sense of fellowship between us, allows us to take a break and communicate with each other. It reminds us that we have a great network of attorneys out there,” Raiford said.

Glasser, managing partner at Greenspoon Marder, P.A., in Ft. Lauderdale, is the second of his family to have graduated from UF Law. The first was his father-in-law, Sidney Aronovitz (JD 43), for whom the U.S. Courthouse in Key West was named in 2009. He also shares the tie with his son, Evan (JD 02), who is an associate at Greenspoon Marder, P.A.